Reflections
by lacthryn18
Summary: The Republic is on the verge of collapse, Malak's forces continue to grow in number. It's up to one young woman and the friends she makes along the way, to give up her past hatered and save the galaxy, if not for her self then for those she loves. NewChap
1. Chapter 1

INTRO- I didn't want to stray too far from the original strory because for obvious reasons it doesn't belong to me. BUt i did want to put the action in a new perspective. So everyone meet Lieutenant Raven Dark-Wing a Republic starfighter pilot. If you feel like reviewing then do so, all will be looked at and considered. If i've gone wrong anywhere then let me know. thanks and i hope you enjoy the many hidden twists that await you in the future!

The Endar Spire; 0423 local time.

The attack came out of nowhere, but then again most attacks did; it was part of their very nature, but the sudden deceleration as the Endar Spire was yanked out of hyperspace was the very last thing that any one on board expected. Carth Onasi braced himself on the console of the bridge before looking around to check on the crew. _No serious injuries_, he thought as his eyes went to the data screen and widened in horror. An entire Sith fleet dominated the entire monitor.

"Get me the Jedi NOW!" He commanded the Ensign, he could see the terror in his wide eyes as he went about his task. "Bring us to port! I want those gun batteries warmed and ready. How far are we off from the planet." The stat's where there instantly as he accessed the information. _We aren't going to make it out of this intact. _the thought was there but he banished it instantly. As the comm. signaled he had the Jedi on the line.

"What is it Captain, why have we been pulled from hyperspace so soon?" the irate voice belonged to Bastila Shan the missions commander.

"We've managed to land right in the middle of a Sith ambush Commander, an Interdictor has pulled us out of hyperspace short of the target system. The Sith are beginning to form up and close in."

"I'll be there as quickly as I can Captain, can we hold them off long enough to reach Taris?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Very well, alert the crew, it looks like we're in for a rough ride." With that the comm. went silent and Carth turned to the Ensign once again.

"Open all channels to the crew - he waited for the nod then continued. - Attention all personal, we are at Red Alert, I repeat Red Alert. All hands are to report immediately to there assigned stations." With that the connection was severed, "Isn't your bunk mate still in her quarters?" He asked the Ensign.

"Yes sir, she received a concussion a few day again and relieved of duty till the medic could certify her to fly again."

"You better go let her out of her quarters then, I can guarantee that she isn't going to want to lay down for this, you are dismissed." The Ensign turned to leave, but Carth was already focusing on the battle to come, if we could only hold up until we get close enough to the planet. It was imperative that the Jedi make it. But the outcome looked grim.

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It wasn't the sudden jerk of the ship that woke her, no it was her head as it connected with the ground. She'd managed to fall out of her bunk, was all she could think as she lay on the floor and moaned softly to herself. Her head had already pounded from the blow she's taken some days before in a damn training exercise of all things.

She just lay there for sometime, letting the spinning of the room come into some kind of order. But she was suddenly interrupted in her quest for clarity by the activation of the intercom.

"**Attention all personal, we are at Red Alert, I repeat Red Alert. All hands are to report immediately to there assigned stations."**

She groaned again as she managed to pull herself into a seated position, _what could it be now. _not that she had too much to worry about, she had been relieved of duty after the accident, but damn this better not be another drill.

Minutes seemed to go by and she didn't bother to move, her head seemed to be beating out its own rhythm that was no where near in time with the ship board siren. The sudden activation of the room door caused her to frown, but it slid open to reveal Ensign Ulgo blaster in hand, a wide look of fear in his eyes.

"Come on quickly you need to get and get dressed."

"What's going on Trask?" She asked even as she managed to pull herself upward and make her way to her locker. Quickly she slipped her uniform on, trying desperately to keep the room from spinning. She had just managed to stand up straight and get her melee weapon strapped when she was hurled against the bulkhead by I violent shock.

"Damn it, we need to get to the bridge, we're under attack from the Sith!"

"What? Are they after the Jedi?"

"That's what the Captain thinks, are you steady enough to get moving?"

"I can make it." They stepped out into the corridor and where instantly covered by a hail of blaster fire.

"Damn it, they've managed to board us. FOR THE REPUBLIC!" Trask screamed as he rounded the bend and began firing. Raven shook her head briefly before she reached behind her back and withdrew her Zhaboka double-bladed sword, she made sure her grip was tight and firm before she followed Trask round the corner.

Trask was taking cover by one of the bulk head connections, as she ran past him. She didn't even bother to take out her blaster, her skill with the blade had always been her best attack - outside of a cockpit that was.

There where three Sith troopers taking fire at them, she managed to dodge the first volley of fire, she slashed diagonally across the first stomach, but didn't hesitate with the next move. The down swing connected with the next trooper who spun as she caught against their shoulder. She felt the third as they turned to fire at her but was cut down by a blaster bolt to the face plate.

"Are you insane? If you're going to use your melee at least activate your personal shield. It might just give a chance of making it off the ship." She waited for Trask to catch up to her before they continued onwards towards the next closed bulkhead. As Trask fiddled with the manual release he glance down at the blade in her hand, then back up to her face.

"That's not standard issue."

"No it's my own, a gift from an old friend." Even as she spoke the doors slid open to reveal a Jedi in the midst of battle with a Dark Jedi.

"This fight's too much for us, there's nothing we can do." Trask spoke as they watched the action before them. Frustration burned through Raven as she watched helplessly as the two Force wielders battled. With a final blow the Jedi managed to cut the Sith down only to fall victim seconds later to an explosion across the bulkhead. Raven gritted her teeth at the injustice of it. They could have used her help to make it through the growing number of Sith.

No sooner had she spoken then three more Sith rounded the corner into the line of sight. With a brief glance at Trask she activated her personal shield and charged forwards, just in time to see a grenade explode where she had been. She didn't let it slow her down though as she attacked with vicious force, her first blow cleaving a trooped in two.

Distantly she heard Trask as he yelled out for her to duck, but she was already moving, spinning and jamming her fist into the next trooper before using the momentum to continue on with her attack. Moments later and she stood in the midst of the dead. Trask was making his way towards her as they reached the main corridor of the ship.

"This is going to be tight quarters if the Sith have managed to take the bridge, so be ready." Even as he spoke he was already assessing the manual over ride for the door. As it slid back she cursed, the Sith had already taken the bridge they swarmed towards the pair as the began to fight. She was so caught up in the shear momentum of attack - parries - attack, that she was stunned by the sudden absence of attackers. A brief glance around revealed the dead and dying around her as Trask came forwards once again.

"You're good with that thing. But we need to dump the computer codes and get to the escape pods." So saying he assessed the computer and imputed his pass code before pressing the sequence that would send out a last message to the Republic fleet before erasing the computers core memory. Together they moved towards the next bulkhead and Trask once again went to work, only to curse and thump the metal a moment later.

"What is it?" She asked,

"The damn lock's been jammed."

"Here let me try." She handed him her weapon as she set to work, instead of using the usual subroutine she re-routed the controls through a minor system. It would only hold for a few moments before the power would melt the wiring but they didn't need to worry abut closing the door again.

"How did you do that?" Trask asked as the doors slid open.

"Let's just say that me and slicing have a friendly acquaintance." She took her weapon back as they moved forward. They where abut to head to the left when the bulkhead directly ahead of them jerked open. The figure it revealed was dressed all in black and spun his red tipped dual lightsaber before him, the look on his face was triumphant.

"Damn a Dark Jedi. You need to get to the escape pods and let the Captain know that the ship is clear and that the codes have been erased."

"What? Trask we need to go now!" She didn't even have time to finish as he ran forward to face the Sith. She tried to follow him but the bulkhead closed locking her out. She banged her fists against the door in frustration before she turned to the left door. It slid open easy enough to reveal the elevator that would take her down to the escape pod deck. With one final glance at the other locked door she sighed as the doors slid shut.

The sudden crackle of the speaker system made her jump before she recognized the voice.

"I'm tracking your life sign through the environmental systems. Do you think you'll be able to make it to the pod bay?" Captain Onasi spoke, his concern was evident in his voice.

"I'm on my way now Captain, is the rest of the crew away?"

"We're the last on board Lieutenant, there are no other life signs visible." For a moment she couldn't answer as a rush of grief filled her over the death of her friend.

"The memory core has been erased Captain. I'll be there as quickly as I can."

"Make it fast Lieutenant, the ship isn't going to hold up for much longer." With that the speaker system fell silent moments before the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

She made her way down the corridor, her attention intensely focused on her surroundings. The nearby comm. crackled to life again.

"There's a Sith trooper ahead at the cross section, if you activate your stealth belt you should be able to get close enough to take him out before he notices you."

"Thanks Captain." The Comm. fell silent again, as she reached for her belt. the only trouble with a stealth belt is that she had to deactivate her personal shield in order for it to work. After she had turned off her shield she switched the belt n and waited as the odd shivery sensation stole over she skin.

On silent feet she made her way forward, stopping every time the guard's attention turned towards her in order to remain undetected. She was only three feet away from him when he turned once again, at this close the distortion effect created by the Stealth belt was noticeable, the shimmering of the refracted light caught his attention. Not bothering to turn off the belt she struck, two quick decisive blows and he was down. Only then did she switch off the belt. immediately turning her personal shield back on. She noticed the grenades attached to his belt and smiled. She palmed them and quickly made her way down the corridor on swiftly silent feet.

At the next bulkhead she quickly secured her blade to its back harness, the grenades gripped tightly in her palm. As she activated the circuit to open the doors, she took a second to spot the two Sith, before aiming and releasing the grenades. They two never had the chance to even bring up their weapons in defense as the explosion, through them to the ground. Her blade found one and then another in quick succession, before she whipped it round to her rest at her side. She toggled the comm. system to speak to the Captain.

"Is there any way of knowing just how many are behind this door Captain?" It took a moment before he got her answer.

"There's at least five life signs in there, your going to have to think of something. There should be a deactivated droid in there with you. There should be part to fix it in the footlockers or you can hack into the security system from the terminal and get a little…creative." She looked over at the terminal and grinned.

"I think I'll stick with my good old fashioned hacker skill's Captain, thanks for the heads up." The comm. went silent again as she got to work.

It took her moments to bypass the log in sequence, any code she knew wouldn't have worked since the core had already been erased. She pulled the options menu up and scanned through the list till she reached the cameras. Selecting the one for the room, she groaned as she noticed the troopers stood waiting.

They weren't just any troopers, these where the elite. You could tell be the blood red stain to their armor. She tapped the select button again and frowned as she noticed a new option menu. Listed was the overload for the power conduit that was situated in the next room.

She smiled as she tapped it and the highlighted option switched back to the camera again. She watched as the overload began, and as expected the electric charge jumped from conduit to the nearest Sith trooper. For once those menacing armors where of actual use to her as they acted as there own insulators, trapping the electricity inside the suit frying the occupant. As the last fell to the ground, she logged out of the system and moved to open the door.

She kept her blade firmly in its harness but grabbed the elite's Sith war sword, if they where going down to the planet they would need all the weapons they could carry. Clutching the weapon in he hand she made her way to the next door and started to run down the corridor. Seconds later an explosion fro behind her sent her sprawling across the deck. Scrambling to her feet she kept moving. Bastila must have made it away, the Sith had started targeting the ship directly.

As she rounded the next bend she was faced with two more Sith troopers, but she didn't even hesitate, cutting them down with swift movements, desperate to reach the pods before it was too late. She didn't even feel the gash as the second trooper cut across her thigh. She felled him one handed taking his head clear off. She didn't slow as she rounded the next bend and reached the bulkhead door. She entered the emergency code that was a permanent fixture on every Republic escape pod bay even though the core had been wiped clean.

She threw herself through the door just as an explosion rocked the corridor behind her, sending sparks and debris through the air. She landed hard on the deck, and was grateful for the hand that reached out and lifted her to her feet. She lifted her gaze upwards and met the Captains, a hesitant smile forming on her lips.

"It's about time you got here Lieutenant, there's not much time left. There's only one pod remaining so its going to be a tight squeeze."

"I don't mind sir."

"Alright then, lets get moving." Carefully he lowered himself into the pod and strapped in, then with a little maneuvering she managed to squeeze down through the gap. A sudden jolt through the ship caused her to loose her grip and she landed heavily on the Captain's knees.

"Sorry sir." She mumbled. A warm chuckle tickled her ear.

"The names Carth, Lieutenant. And you might as well get comfortable because there's no where else for you to sit." Even as he spoke he pressed the release that would seal the doors of the escape pod tight. Trying to settle in as gently as she could, she felt his arms go round her waist seconds before they where ejected from the ship.

She looked up through the single portal as the moved away from the ship. When they had reached about two hundred meters a huge explosion ripped through the hull of the Endar Spire and the resulting shockwaves slammed into their tiny pod. Gasping at the sudden increase in speed, she gripped tightly onto the safety bars.

"Relax Lieutenant, we'll make it."

"Yes sir, but will we make it one piece?" She quipped, before she had time to think. Again that warm laughter filled her ears as a sudden lurch caused Carth to grip her even tighter.

"I like your sense of humor Lieutenant, it beats being pessimistic."

"Yes sir, and sir, my name's Raven. I figured you should be on first name basis with someone who literally fell into your lap." Seconds later they hit the outer atmosphere with a god awful lurch that sent Raven flying forward. Her head connected with the side of the pod and blinding light shot through her. Distantly she heard Carth's vice and his arms as the struggled to keep a hold of her.

"Damn is Lieutenant, you need to stay with me. We're nearly through. Raven…Raven answer me!" His voice faded off into the distance as the blinding white light began to swim into darkness.

She didn't feel the deceleration as they passed through the atmosphere and the thrusters fired to slow them even more. She didn't feel the impact as they crashed into the Uppercity of Taris. She never noticed as Carth managed to squeeze past her and out of the hatch. She didn't even feel him carrying her in his arms quickly away from the crash site. Instead she was blissfully unawares swallowed up by the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

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Taris 1148 local time

The nightmare hit with out warning, one moment she was swimming in the familiar blackness that seemed to be her world, the next she was catapulted through that darkness straight into the midst of battle.

Jedi dark and light battling on the bridge of some unknown bridge. A masked figure, chuckled evilly as it cut down it's attackers, until it was faced by a woman. He could see the fierceness etched into the features as the woman battled her amber lightsaber spinning wildly in counter attack to the deep red of the masked figure.

Suddenly there was a pause in the battle, and she was once again yanked from the nightmare. She opened her eyes to a blinding ache and the dimness of glow lights. From a distance she heard someone calling her name, but it took her a moment before she could bring that voice into focus.

"…instead of thrashing around."

"Huh?"

"I said it's good to see you up instead of thrashing around. That must have been one hell of a nightmare, you've been out for three days."

"Sorry Captain, I guess a head injury isn't the best thing to get on top of a head injury." She managed to form a smile as she gingerly levered herself into a seated position on the bed. It was only then that she took a look around. Her eye returned to Carth, questioningly.

"We're in an abandoned apartment on Taris, you were hurt but luckily I wasn't. I managed to pull you out of the escape pod before the authorities arrived and stash you in here. I've patched the gash on your leg up but we should really get you to a doctor just to be certain that there's no permanent damage." Slowly she spun until her feet where over the edge of the bed and she allowed them to rest on the floor.

"I've managed to do some scouting around, and it seems that some escape pods crashed down into the Undercity, we need to find a way down there and search for Bastila."

"Wouldn't she be able to take care of her self? Being a Jedi and all."

"That's not the point Lieutenant, she's the Commander of this mission. Not to mention invaluable to the republic war effort. We're soldiers and as such we do our jobs, this is our job."

"Yes sir, sorry sir. I just… I'm not particularly fond of Jedi."

"Your entitled to your personal feelings Lieutenant but they can't be allowed to interfere with the mission."

"Yes sir, we should start looking. The sooner we start the sooner we can get off this rock."

"That's not going to be easy, the Sith have placed Taris under interdiction no ship leaves or enters the system until they find what they're looking for. My guess is they're after Bastila, that should make it easier on us - they wont be looking for a couple of grunts. We can stay under the radar and maybe track her down."

"Yes sir." Carefully she levered herself into a stand position testing her sense of balance. When she didn't fall flat on her face she smiled and her eyes caught the Captain's.

"We best get moving, and Lieutenant we should probably stick to our first names, we don't want to reveal our presence in any way."

"Yes si…I mean yes Carth."

"Why don't you go get cleaned up and we'll head out." Nodding gingerly she headed for the 'fresher unit. In less then ten minutes she'd managed to clean most of the grime off but she didn't even dare remove the bandage that covered her left temple. When she was finished she head back out into the apartment, catching Carth's eye she strapped on her sword before they turned and headed towards the door.

It had no sooner opened the they where confronted by a group of Sith.

"This is a Sith raid, I want all of you alien scum up against the wall… NOW!"

"What now? The Sith searched our homes only yesterday." The Duros spoke out in his alien language. He didn't get the chance to speak again as he was cut down in a hail of blaster fire. As the guard turned he spotted them leaving the apartment.

"That's what Sith do to Alien scum…What do we have here? Humans living with aliens. There Republic fugitives…Kill them!" He ordered the two battle droids at his side.

Flicking a brief glance at Carth she withdrew her melee weapon and ducked sideways even as blaster fire flashed through where she had just been. Turning with the dodge she brought the double blade down in a swing that took the firs droid out. Pivoting on her left leg she caught sight of Carth as he fired at the Sith, catching the man in the throat before he could use his comm to alert others to their presence. Again she brought the sword forward in a downwards arc that cleaved the second droid in two.

When she straightened she watched as Carth approached, she took notice of the admiration in his eyes as she turned to the one remaining Duros.

"Ixgil, should have learned when to keep his mouth shut. Thank you for your help humans."

"Wont you get in trouble for this? What about the bodies if the Sith are searching this much then they're bound to find them."

"Do not worry human, I will make sure that the bodies are moved to make it look like they where killed somewhere else." With that she watched as the Duros called over to some of the other aliens lingering in the hall. Even as she watched them get organized and begin to gather the dismembered droids together, she was already on her knees rifling through the Sith's pockets.

"Just what the hell are you doing soldier?" Carth asked his voice disbelieving. She looked at him for a moment before she realised he honestly didn't understand.

"We're stranded on a hostile world, with few - if any - supplies. I figured that we're going to need all the help that we can get. If that means stealing from the scum of the galaxy then I'm more then happy to do so." She watched as the struggle fought out in his mind, his eyes giving away the inner battle. She realised in that moment that this man had true honour. Something that she had never come across before and it gave her an unpleasant feeling to do something so distasteful in his presence. She waited for his hesitant nod before she continued stripping the supplies from the Sith officer.

When she was finished, she stuffed the spoils into the backpack and stood. The added weight set her off balance and her head seemed to spin for a moment before she felt an arm on her shoulder steadying her.

"First things first we're getting you to a medic, I want to make sure that, the knock you took to the head hasn't done too much damage."

"Yes sir." together they moved towards the elevator, they where just about to step in side when, Raven noticed the frightened human woman scurrying back inside the apartment next to their own. Along with the credit slip that fell to the floor, as the woman slid back inside.

"I'll be back in a moment sir." With out giving Carth a chance to answer she slipped back out of the elevator and ran lightly down the corridor until she reached the fallen slip. Scooping it up she knocked on the flimsy door and waited. I head appeared in the crack that opened.

"What do you want?" the voice was frightened and full of suspicion.

"You dropped this out in the hall ma'am and I didn't want someone else to take it." the eyes that looked back at her where filled with disbelief but a tiny hand slid out and she place the slip carefully into the palm. There was a murmured thank you before the woman began to close the door. With out thinking Raven stuck her foot out to stop the door closing. The angry hostile look that met her eyes burned.

"What do you think your doing?" a Whisper in her ear told her hat Carth was stood behind her, for once she ignored his presence.

"Look I don't want to frighten you or anything but I just wanted to check that your alright. We're staying next door and well you just looked like you where scared of something. If there's anything that we can do, you know where to find us." the woman met and held her eyes before nodding.

"There isn't anything you can do, not unless you know how to get a bounty off someone's head."

"What happened?"

"I work in a cantina in the lower city, this slime ball tried to take things too far, ended up with a Vibroblade across he chest. The scum but a bounty out on my head, I don't have the money to take it off."  
"What is this slim balls name?"

"Holdan, he works for Davik Kang, the local exchange boss - you can see why it's a problem."

"I'll see what I can do." The scepticism grated but then it always had, she'd find a way to help.  
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The office of Zelka Forn was as uninspiring as every other medical facility that spanned the galaxy, and she hated them. Fidgeting was not something she was prone to do, but she couldn't help it she hated medical facilities.

"Will you sit still? It's like trying to examine a child." The Doctor didn't have the best bed side manner either. She growled low in her throat in an effort to contain her need to ram the sensor somewhere no sensor was meant to go.

"Relax Lieutenant, we're nearly finished." Her movements stopped as she snapped her focus onto the doctor. "What you didn't think I'd notice the fact that the only way you could have gotten this kind of injury is from a high velocity impact - such as an escape pod. You don't need to worry, either of you" His eyes flickered over to Carth who despite the reassurance looked worried. "My son served under you on the Intrepid, Captain. Jerin Forn, you where like his hero, there isn't a chance I'd turn you into the Sith."

"Thank you, and thank you for taking care of the other survivors, I'm guessing that it is you. What we really need is some information on the under city - can you help us?" Even as Carth spoke Zelka finished with the last stitch and patted her shoulder, she was up and out of the seat as fast as she could move. The man no longer looked like such an ogre now she wasn't under his tender care.

Forn motioned for them to head to the back room and the followed, inside she spotted the kolto tanks and the Republic soldiers inside. She walked up to the nearest tank and placed a hand over the glass.

"I take it you knew him?" Carth asked as they waited.

"Chief Petty Officer Lain Crude. He ran the Pazaak games on ship, this was his last tour. His wife is expecting their first child - he was a good friend." The overwhelming sadness surged over her a hopeless feeling that she couldn't prevent. To her surprise Carth pulled her back against his chest and squeezed her shoulders. She allowed her body to relax against his as the tears slipped from her eyes.

"We all loose someone in war Lieutenant, its not the way we'd want it but the price for freedom is always high" She managed to nod before she heard the footsteps moving back into the room. She pulled away, standing up straight and brushed the tears from her lashes as she listened to Carth and Zelka talked she memorized the images before her, she wouldn't forget. This was the reason they where fighting, to stop this from happening to other families. In the distance she heard Carth thank the doctor before taking her arm and leading her away.

"We need some kind of disguise if we even want to make it down in the Lower city, Zelka suggested that we head over to the cantina and see what we can find." At the mention of a cantina she perked up and shot him a grin.

"I know the perfect way to get us more credits." His gaze was wary as she rummaged inside her pack and extracted the Pazaak deck. "Relax Captain I can't even remember the last time I lost a game."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence, considering your tendency towards head injuries."

"Why Captain. Was that a joke? Way I figure it we're going to need some equipment, not to mention food, the best and most none lethal way I could think of is with Pazaak. There are other ways of course Taris is well known for it Duel rings, I wouldn't mind knocking the snot out of some of these 'noble' Upper citizens…" He was already shaking his head, at that idea so they had to settle with Pazaak - for now anyway.

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	3. Chapter 3

Hey sorry that this has been so long comeing but i'm so stressed right now at uni that i think my head would have exploded if it wadn't reached half term. oh well thought i'd take some time out and chill by updating, hope that you enjoy and please review!

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Taris Local Time 15:48

She looked up from her third glass of Talrisian ale and smiled as Carth slid into the seat next to her, signalling as he did so to the bartender for his own drink.

"So… should you be drinking that stuff?" A smirk spread across her lips.

"This is pretty mild Cap…Carth. I think I can handle it." He nodded in ascent as his own glass was set down besides him.

"I've managed to find out that quite a few pods crashed down into the Undercity. Chances are if Bastila is going to be anywhere it would be there." He took a sip of his drink and turned to rest his back against the bar giving him a perfect view of the cantina. "The only problem I can see is actually getting down there. The only ones with authorisation are Sith, we'll need a disguise to get even as far as the Lowercity."

"I may have found us a way down into the Lowercity at least." Her eyes met his as he raised his brow in question. "See that guy over there…No don't look directly at him!" His frown indicated his irritation.

"I see him." He muttered taking another drink of ale.

"Well he's invited me to this party… a Sith party. If we play our cards right we might just be able to err…liberate us some Sith uniforms and we…"

"NO!" His sudden interruption caused her to look at his sharply. "You aren't walking into a room full of Sith…What if they caught you…or worse." His lack of faith cut into her deeply and she had to take a deep breath.

"Fine!" It was torn from her but she couldn't disobey a direct order from a superior officer. Downing the last of her ale she stood and dropped enough credits to cover her tap, before she turned and left. She was on the concourse half way between the cantina and the local weapons supplier when a rough hand grabbed her left elbow and swung her around. If it had been anyone else she would have planted her fist in their skull for touching her. Instead she just shrugged out of Carth's grasp.

"What is the problem?"

"I don't know what your talking about." It was spat out between her gritted teeth, her eyes taking in the Sith guard stationed nearby.

"Don't give me that crap sister – you stormed out of there in a huff, something obviously not 'fine'." His brown eyes bored into her own dark orbs.

"Do you really want to talk about this here? Out in the open?" Carth noticed the Sith and nodded in agreement.

"Fine we'll go back to the apartment."

The walk back was fraught with tension; neither of them spoke or openly acknowledged each other, but as soon as the door shut behind then Carth turned to face her demandingly.

"Now what the frack is going on?" It was an order she could see it in his eyes and that only added to her own anger.

"Permission to speak freely Sir?" She waited for him to give her permission before she launched straight at him. "I have the perfect opportunity to help advance this damn rescue mission and you sit there and refuse out of hand, with out bothering to listen to what I was about to say. Don't get me wrong you're the commanding officer on this and can order me to what needs to be done, but to question me own abilities without bothering to learn what they are is insulting beyond belief."

"This is about the Sith party…"

"OF course it is! I can do this but you didn't even give me the chance to explain the plan, you just shot me down. If this is how you treat your crew then I'll be asking for a transfer the second we get off this concrete rock." Her ranting was accompanied by her pacing back and forth before him, while Carth simply stood and waited for her to finish.

"Are you done? Yes? Good. I don't want you risking yourself so openly, a party full of Sith! And you want to waltz right in alone."

"I never said alone…you didn't give me a chance to explain."

"Fine then…explain."

"The guy Yun Genda… he's a Sith officer at the nearby base…a junior officer. He's throwing a party for some of his shift mates and asked me along. I told him that my over protective cousin – that's you – would never let me go on my own and he informed me to bring my 'cousin' along 'the more the merrier'. A lot if his shift are heading there straight from work…without getting changed they'll do that at the party leaving their uniforms sitting around just begging to be appropriated."

"Ok I admit it doesn't sound as dangerous as it did at first but it's still a big risk." She could see he was mulling it over in his mind even as she jumped in again.

"I know that's why we…me and you are going to bring along a crate of that Talrisian ale, these Sith have never had something so potent the damn stuff is hardly ever shipped offworld. After they've had enough of that the poor misguided fools will more then likely pass out or won't remember us helping them to do so."

"Alright I admit it's a good plan but where are we going to get the credits from to pay for that much ale?"

"Already taken care of, I cleaned out that guy Niklos or something you know the one who thinks he's a big shot Pazaak player. Poor guy had to head home; I even spoke to the bartender who informed me that I'd just need to contact him for the ale to be delivered." A crooked smile spread across his lips and an odd twinkle lit his eyes as he spoke.

"Your good, Lieutenant, lets hope that you can pull it off." She felt the grin spreading across her own face, he was agreeing – giving her the green light.

"Thank you Sir."

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She'd been sat there for over an hour, tinkering with the various stuff she'd pilfered or 'found'. That is if you can call the balancing act she managed to pull off sitting, perched as she was on the workbench with everything laid out around her. For some reason he couldn't tear his eyes from the hypnotic movements of her hands as she fiddled with small mechanical tools and objects. She had long graceful hands well hand anyway – her right hand was covered by the black glove she always wore. They where thin – her fingers – tapered line a musicians he instruments the wicked looking blade that lay next to her. She managed to wield it with a skill and finesse that impressed even him.

A frown marred her face as she attempted to fix something on her lap only to fail, her eyes where that odd dark colour – black almost but he'd seen then – first when she'd entered the pod bay back on the Spire and again on the way back from the cantina. They'd flashed a hidden gold, but right now they seemed as black as her hair which hung link silk to her shoulders. He longed to have a reason to touch it again as he had while she'd been unconscious. Frowning at the direction his own thoughts where taking he pushed them away focusing instead on the awkward situation they seemed to be in. crammed together as they where in a studio apartment, with no privacy and hardly and space to breath.

A quite sigh signalled her success and the smile that lit up her face as a result was almost painful for him to watch. Suddenly her gaze looked up and met his and the smile slowly faded. She had spunk – defiantly – the way she'd stood up to him and forced him to listen to her ideas until it had made more sense to simply follow it then not was admirable, so was her shear determination to make it out of this mess.

"What?" Her voice was soft although he knew it could be as cold and hard as durocrete when she wanted it to be.

Nothing really, I was just thinking, you know about what happened on the Endar Spire. What can you tell me – from your own point of view about what went on?" She frowned again thinking it over before she started to speak.

"To be honest, I haven't got a clue what went on. The first thing I noticed was my head connecting with the bulkhead as we where jerked out of hyperspace. I didn't even move till Ensign Ulgo opened the lockdown for my door, I was still pretty dazed – even when we spotted the first Sith boarders. I didn't even remember to turn my personal shield on."

"And yet the Jedi requested your addition to the crew just before we left Corascant."

"Huh? You must have got that wrong, Sir. I was given my assignment over a week before the Endar Spire arrived in Corascant, by Admiral Dadoona herself."

"The Admiral gave you your orders? That's pretty unusual for a Lieutenant."

"I've known the Admiral for years, she sponsored my enrolment at the academy. I was on her flag ship when she requested my addition to the Endar Spire. I'd not long finished my tour of duty on board the Liberty so I was due for reassignment anyway."

"I just think its odd is all – you being added at the last minute by the Jedi then somehow managing to make it off the Spire while injured and concussed -"

"What is this about Sit? If your questioning my loyalty then you can think again. The Republic is everything to me and helping keep it safe is all I care about, and had been since I enrolled at the academy at the age of 15. That's 11 years Sir, that I've given to the Republic willingly and I'll probably give the rest of my life to it as well."

"Alright Lieutenant - I'm just making sue I know who I'm dealing with, it's nothing personal I just don't trust anyone." He watched as she put away her tools placing her blade back in its harness before turning to face him, her face set and her jaw squared as though ready to take a punch.

"If you don't mind me saying so Sir, trust isn't something given – it's earned. I thought I'd already started to do that but obviously I was wrong. There's a big difference between not giving your trust to everyone and distrusting them, if you distrust everyone then your bound to be disappointed because you'll always be waiting for them to make a mistake just so you can tell yourself that you where right. I learned that along time ago, I hope you learn it to because distrusting everyone – well that's just no way to live." She turned to leave and he called after her.

"Where are you going?" He asked, she didn't turn around her hand rested just above the pressure pad that opened the door.

"I'm heading to the Cantina, see if I can earn us some more credits playing Pazaak – we're going to need them."

"shouldn't you be getting some rest your still recovering from that head injury."

"I've been asleep for three days Sir – I'd rather be awake right now." Without waiting for a reply she hit the pad that caused the door to slip open. He watched her leave with a heavy feeling in his gut. He hadn't meant to question her loyalty but he felt better knowing that she was just as dedicated to the republic as he was. 11 years that would make her 26 – yet he'd seen into her eyes. There was a knowledge there and a darkness that spoke of wisdom well beyond that of a 26 year old, and a pain - he seen that in them too.

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She wanted to hit something, how could anyone be so frustration – she had no idea. She stomped down the corridor towards the elevator that would take her to the main concourse a growl left throat as she hit that sent her upwards. Trying to get him to open up was like trying to get blood from a stone, the worst thing of all was that she wanted to know more about him.

She felt the unexplainable pull and she was pretty sure that Carth had felt it as well, judging from the way he'd been staring at her. The door opened to the upper levels of Taris and she heaved a sigh of disgust, she hated planet – they where all pretty much the same. In fact she couldn't remember the last time she had willingly been planet side, the dinner meeting with the Admiral that she'd attended before shipping out had been in the Admirals quarters aboard ship. Dadoona had taken her dislike of planets into account, which still made her smile.

She started walking towards the Cantina her hand brushing the hilt of her blade where it rested as a type of reassurance. How dare he question her loyalty or the motives of an Admiral not to mention her friend, Dadoona had helped her through a tough time after she'd been rescued – she'd also been grateful of the help that she's been able to provide during the assault on Duxn.

Could it really have been nearly 12 years ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed by. She was nearing the weaponry store when she had the sudden urge to head inside, not willing to ignore her instincts she veered inside. Where she was immediately confronted by a human female by the name of Kelba Yurt.

"Hey there offworlder is there something I can help you with, top line weaponry and armour …well mostly."

"What do you mean by 'mostly'?" She asked with a frown.

"The Sith confiscated all my heavy duty items but the rest is still quality gear."

"I've been looking for a holo-imager trying to fix my dejar'ek boards, you wouldn't know where I could get one would you?"

"sorry closest I've got is a imager face mask, came in a couple days ago. It'll cost you 100 credits, though it'll need fixing."

"Show me." Kelba headed off to find it before scurrying back mask in tow. The mask itself looked like a loop of metal – very fine – that sat on your head like a hair band. It remained hidden beneath the hair while projecting a visual image down over the face.

"I'll take it, I also want that permacrete detonator and 4 heavy blaster charge packs."

"That will be 250 credits – those charge packs are 30 each but I'll give you them for 25 just for taking that imager off my hands. I get caught with that by the Sith and they'll close me down for good – you be careful now hon." With that she headed back to the rest of her stock while Raven placed the blaster packs and the detonator carefully into her backpack.

"Do you mind if I use your workbench? I'll only be a minute or two."

"Sure go ahead – we're closing up though soon."

"I'll make it quick." Ten minutes later she had the holo-mask up and working with two pre-programmed images. The first was a composite female face – blonde, blue eyes tanned skin. The second however was much more difficult to design. Taking a glace around she slipped the holo-mask behind both ears and activated the first image. She caught sight of herself in the shiny surface of the workbench and smiled – no one would ever recognise her. Taking one more lock around she slipped out of the shop and headed towards the Cantina. It was time she got them some well deserved credits.


	4. Chapter 4

thank you for being so patient with me in waiting for this chapter to be written. its been a little hectic trying to get through university course work and projects. next chapter is written and will also be posted shortly.thanks again and please REVIEW

**Chapter Four**

It was a little after 0200 when the door to the apartment opened to reveal eyed slightly worse for wear Raven. She'd managed to rip a stitch and blood trickled slowly down from her temple, she also had a blooded lip and swollen right eye. He was up and across the room in an instant.

"Are you alright? What the frack happened?"

She accepted his help as he guided her into a nearby seat.

"The nerve of that little schutta – to try and accuse me…Me! of cheating! He must have been out of his fracking mind. No don't fuss I'm alright."

She complained as Carth pressed a damp cloth against her face to clean off the blood.

"You don't look alright. You look like you got the snot beaten out f you"

"Nah…you should definitely see the other guy and his friend…and his other friend."

"Three against one? And your still standing?"

"Hey I'm not the one whose going to be needing a new limb – the jerk. As if I could cheat with the deck I picked up I don't even have a full side deck – not even a half full side deck. Why did he have to blame me for his ineptitude?"

All he could do was smirk as he patted away the blood. She was going to have some spectacular bruising but otherwise she looked alright.

"It's good to know that your good with overwhelming odds."

"Well as some very wise Corellian once said 'Never tell me the odd'. That was the most fun I've had in – well the last time I was behind the controls of a starfighter."

"You think being jumped by three schutta's is fun?"

He watched fascinated as her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Okay never mind, why don't you go clean up and hit the sack. We've got a busy day tomorrow. You need to look your best for your 'date'."

She gave him a frosty glare before dissolving into laughter.

"Seriously you should of seen that hairy Bantha Carth, he was all indignant and stuffed up I nearly wet myself laughing."

"Maybe that's why he thought you where cheating."

His look of mild disapproval had her standing and backing away towards the refresher, her hand held up in a sign of appeasement.

"Okay, okay I get it…maybe I can get the footage off of the cantina's security holo's"

She muttered as she turned and entered the refresher, closing the door behind her, all he could do was smile. She'd obviously had quite a bit to drink and yet she'd still managed to deal with a bunch of schutta's. She was an intriguing mix of toughness and vulnerability combined with a wit and determination, no matter how hard he tried he was drawn to the unusual mix she represented. Moving back to his bed he lay down and tried not to think of her in the other room, but the more he tried not to think of her the worse he failed. Closing his eyes tight her pretended to be asleep.

The sun was shining through the tiny window woke him, that and the smell of caffa drifting across the room. Sitting up he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes trying to focus. Raven was sat by the interface terminal her tools laying within easy reach, along with the fresh cup of caffa. She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him as he sat up smiling, the split lip from the earlier that morning a vivid slash against her skin. She also had extended bruising along the side of her cheek not to mention her eye. He felt a sudden surge of anger at the person responsible

"What time is it?"

He asked turning to place his feet on the floor.

"A little after 1140 sir. I nipped out about two hours ago to grab some supplies."

He nodded as he made his way to the tiny kitchenette and poured himself a cup of caffa. Taking a deep sip he sat down in the opposite chair to Raven's, letting the heat and caffa hit his system.

"How long have you been up?"

He asked taking another sip.

"A few hours, thought I'd see about hacking into the holo-net link. See if it turns up anything. At the very least it'll give us something to do."

She turned back to the task and he was left staring at her back, her very shapely back that ended in her… He stood abruptly discarding the now empty caffa cup along with the inappropriate line of thought.

"I'll go get dressed."

He murmured, he could do with putting as much distance between them as he could. Not that it would help any. She didn't look up as he moved to the refresher, just sat focused on the electronics before her. At least she hadn't noticed him staring at her – yet.

It had been a pretty uneventful day, after Carth had gotten dressed they'd headed out to the local cantina in an effort to discover any more information. Mainly though she noticed that Carth just wanted to get out of the apartment. She's managed to win a few more credits from the locals playing Pazaak but otherwise she was bored. At 1730 they headed back to the apartment to get ready, although why she didn't know. Carth was nervous pacing back and forth, fingering the trigger of his blaster not so casually ever few minutes as though he was dying to shoot something.

She'd managed to pick up some clean clothing from the owner of the weapon's shop – they where more like armour really but she didn't mind as long as they didn't have holes in and the looked clean enough. She'd even managed to grab something to brush her hair with. A feat on this pit of a world to be sure. At 1955 they left the apartment and head to towards the direction of the apartment Yun had mentioned.

As they where approaching the elevator she spotted two thug's harassing an old man. She stopped, eyeing then both before turning to give Carth a brief glance.

"I know we can't afford to attract attention, but I can't just let them hurt him."

She mumbled under her breath. The nearest thug turned and caught sight of them stood watching.

"What do we have here? Witnesses? Perhaps you should move along."

"I don't think so."

The words came out gritted her left hand reaching back slowly to grab the hilt of her blade.

"I think you should back off of the old an before you have to deal with us."

The thug's eyed each other before completely ignoring her warning and reaching for their weapons. She was moving instantly her blade out and already on the down swing towards the first thug, while Carth had drawn his blaster and waited for a clear shot. The first thug went down a moment later the blade slicing cleanly through his torso while at the same time Raven ducked to avoid the shot of the other remaining thug.

Carth managed to catch him in the shoulder causing the creep to turn just as Raven swung her blade and caught him cleanly beneath the arm, cutting upwards. The faint gurgling all that remained as he fell to the concourse, she turned to the old man while at the same time expertly cleaning her blade in the thugs pant leg.

"Are you alright?"

She asked him after a moment

"thanks to you two I am, for now at least. But it wont last long if I can't pay Davik what I owe him. He'll only send out more."

She eyed Carth a moment before she continued.

"How much do you owe him?"

"100 credits, there isn't a chance that I'll be able to come up with that much money anytime soon."

"Here…take it."

She pressed the 100 credit chip into his hand watching as the light of hope sprung to life in his eyes.

"Bless you child – bless both of you."

He moved off towards the elevator looking back every now and then to make sure they hadn't changed their minds.

"That was generous of you."

"Well what can I say? Help me would you"

"What?"

"We don't want to just leave them here. Their bound to draw attention and if this Davik guy is who I think he is then we definitely don't want his kind of attention."

She watched him fight his inner battle in silence before he moved to help her. She'd already stripped the thug's of credits and any useful weapons stashing them in her small backpack. Together they unceremoniously dumped the two over the edge not bothering to stop and watch them fall down into the abyss of Taris.

"We should go, we don't want to be too late."

They stepped towards the elevator and she lapped he palm down on the call button, at the same time turning her head to face Carth with a grim smile.

"Of course we do. All the coolest people arrive late at a party. Anyway the ale should have been there 30 minutes ago, this is going to be worth seeing."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived much to Raven's irritation. They'd gotten slightly – lost – with Carth then refusing to le her ask for directions. Eventually though they had made it to the beat thumping studio apartment in the north quarter. Taking one last chance to prepare herself she turned to face the door while speaking to Carth.

"Please remember that we're supposed to be traders. No military backbone or stiff-necked pride when we get inside ok?"

She hit the door pad sending an annoying ring through to the apartment, moments later the door shot open to reveal the already inebriated host.

"Hey I didn't think you wuz gonna make it. This is your cousin?"

"Yeah, this is…Tark – Tark this is Yun."

"Nice to meet you"

Carth mumbled below his breath.

"Come in, come in. party is really swinging now. Some one delivered Tarisian ale to the wrong address. No problem though just another advantage of being a Sith."

Yun proceeded to weave his way through the room, Raven and Carth following behind. He introduced them to a few people al a little worse for wear thanks to the ale.

"Hey can I get you anything to drink?"

Yun slurred as he eyed Raven's chest. Shaking off her annoyance she requested an ale waiting for him to move off before turning to face Carth.

"This shouldn't even take as long as I thought, the whole lot are already wasted."

Carth smirked, that cocky grin of his and she felt something odd flutter in her chest before she pushed it away.

"The less time we have to spend here the better."

"Urm…Tark I hate to say this but I think your about to get set on by a pack of Kath hounds."

"What?"

No sooner had he spoken then a group of no less then five female Sith accosted him dragging him off to dance. She could only smile in sympathy at the panic filled look on his face. Not long afterwards an unwanted arm was thrown around her shoulder.

"Here you go, hon. One Tarisian ale."

She gritted her teeth through the smile she managed to throw him as she accepted the drink, at the same time managing to shrug off his unwelcome embrace. Taking a long drink of her ale she suppressed a sigh. The things she did for her Republic.

Less then an hour later the music was still pumping but the occupants of the room where totally K.O'ed, all but two that is. One was trying desperately wipe off layers of lipstick from his face and neck, the other meanwhile was trying valiantly to wiggle out from the heavy body of Yun - without waking him.

"Could you stop preening and give me a hand before I wake him up?"

Raven's voice sounded irritated and Carth couldn't hide the smile her situation prompted.

"Sure beautiful, anything I can do."

He quickly shifted the dead weight from Raven, setting her free.

"Do you have to call me that? I've had about enough of nicknames and being groped as I can handle for this life time."

"Hey I was just trying to lighten the mood"

"Well how about we grab what we came for and leave, that would sure as frack lighten my mood" she mumbled beneath her breath already moving to find what she they needed.

"Sure thing, gorgeous"

He said as he moved towards the pile of backpacks in the corner, searching through them until he found what he was looking for, as Raven did the same.

"What, your not going to object to that as well?"

"Right now I could use all the complements I can get. I need to get out of here and take a long hot shower, with plenty of soap involved – I feel dirty"

The last was said softly and it struck Carth that she had hated being touched by these Sith. He'd momentarily forgotten her aversion to physical contact, mainly because she had begun to accept his touch without flinching. Standing he slipped his backpack over his shoulder, waiting while Raven did the same.

"Thanks"

He murmured as they made their way out of the apartment and headed towards the elevator that would take then back to street level.

"For what?"

She asked as the elevator door slid shut.

"For doing this, even though you didn't want to, for pitching in and getting it done"

She looked at him then, starring deeply into his eyes making him feel uncomfortable, as though she could see inside his head. Suddenly the serious expression on her face dissolved, leaving behind that dawn smile that never failed to catch him unawares.

"Thanks, flyboy"

He chuckled to himself at her own nickname for him as they stepped off the elevator into the Tarisian night.

* * *

"You seriously owe me a drink after all this is finished." 

The words where gritted out between teeth clenched against pain and annoyance.

"This is the fifth time that these damn Vulkars have attacked us. It's a good job we're in such a hurry because I have a serious urge to teach these guy's a lesson"

The ranting continued as more Vulkars poured from the nearby apartments. Carth could only grin, how she managed to keep up the never-ending tirade of remarks and insults, while simultaneously beating the snot out of these thugs he's never know.

They'd spent an uneasy night apart as usual, Carth having decided to get some rest after she'd announced that she was heading over to the cantina to play Pazaak. He had to admit that she seemed to be pretty good at the game, judging by the stack of credits she'd shown him this morning.

They'd headed off near 0800 to make their way down into the lower city of Taris dressed in their stolen uniforms. Luckily no one checked up on their story and they had made it down safe. That had been almost three hours ago and he was hot and sweating with the constant battling with these damn Vulkars.

He took careful aim down the sight of his blaster before firing at the twi'lek stood not three feet from Raven, sword raised to attach her exposed back. Even as his blaster bolt seared clean into the guy's chest he saw the metallic sheen of raven's double-bladed sword being pulled free of his gut. As the last thug went down he took a relieved sigh.

"Finally – you'd think they where targeting is on purpose."

He spoke while wiping the sweat stinging his eyes with the back if his back sleeve. Raven stood in her modified Echani armour she'd picked up from Kelba Yurt the night before, the blue material like armour was light but incredibly strong conforming to every single one of her curves. Carth had to gulp to suppress his feelings while leaning heavily against the wall for support as he caught his breath.

"I know what you mean. I'm almost tempted to head back up to the apartment to take another shower – well almost"

Her voice was teasing as she watched him regain his composure. Her smile was brief but mischievous and he fought to suppress a groan.

"We might as well take advantage of all these – vacated – apartments, rest a little before we move on."

"Good idea gorgeous, I could use with a drink."

He followed her into the nearby apartment watching as she unzipped the jacket part of the armour she wore to reveal a plain white chemise. It clung to her stomach, or at last it did when she wasn't moving, or stretching, or standing…Ok Onasi get a grip.

He purposely turned his attention away as she headed towards the nearby sink. The corner of his eye caught sight of the intricately designed tattoo that sat to the left of her belly button. It was mostly hidden as it dipped below the waist band of her pants. It wasn't the first tattoo he'd noticed Raven having; she had another of similar design at the join of her collarbones. They where vaguely familiar reminding him of something that was just beyond his reach.

"Here"

She said handing him the filled glass of water, while taking a deep drink of her own. She'd splashed water on her face and it clung gently to the black eye lashes surrounding her eyes.

"We should probably head towards the cantina. See who we need to speak to about getting us down into the under city. I sure as hell don't want to carry these uniforms much longer."

She said voicing his own immediate desire as well

"I have a feeling that we're going to end up speaking with this Hidden Beks, judging by our reception they'll most likely be our only option.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for being so patient in waiting for this update. The next chapter is almost finished so it shouldn't take long for me to update the next chapter._

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_Taris Local Time 09.30_

"You seriously owe me a drink after all this is finished"

The words where gritted out between teeth clenched against pain and annoyance.

"This is the fifth time that these damn Vulkars have attacked us. It's a good job we're in a hurry because I'm seriously tempted to teach these guy's a lesson."

The ranting continued as more Vulkars poured from the nearby apartments. Carth could only grin, how she managed to keep up the never-ending tirade of remarks and insults while simultaneously beating the snot out of these thug's he'd never know.

They'd spent an uneasy night – apart as usual – Carth having decided to get some rest after she'd announced that she was heading over to the cantina to play more Pazak. He had to admit that she seemed to be pretty good at the game, judging by the number of credits she'd shown him this morning.

They'd headed off at dawn to make there way into the lowercity or Taris dressed in their stolen uniforms. Luckily no one checked up on their story and they'd made it down safe. That was almost three hours ago and he was hot and sweating with the constant battling of these damn Vulkars.

He took careful aim down the sight of his blaster before firing at the twi'lek stood not 3 feet away from Raven, his sword raised to attack her exposed back. Even as his blaster bolt seared clean into the guy's chest he saw the metallic sheen of Raven's blade being pulled free of his stomach.

As the last of the now dead Vulkars hit the ground he gave a relieved sigh.

"Finally – you'd think they where targeting us on purpose."

He spoke, wiping the sweat stinging his eyes on the back of his jacket sleeve. Raven stood in the modified Echani armour she'd picked up from Kelba Yurt the night before. The blue material like armour was light but incredibly strong, conforming to every single one of her curves.

Carth had to gulp to suppress his feelings while leaning heavily against the wall for support in catching his breath.

"I know what you mean. I'm almost tempted to head back up to the apartment just so we can take a shower – well almost."

Her voice was teasing as she watched him regain his composure. Her smile was brief but mischievous and he had to suppress a groan.

"We might as well take advantage of all these – vacated – apartments. Rest a little before we move on."

"Good idea beautiful I could use a drink."

He followed her into the nearby apartment watching as she unzipped the jacket part of her armour to reveal a plain white cami. It hung to her stomach or at least it did when she wasn't moving, or standing, or stretching…_Ok Onasi get a grip_.

He purposely turned his attention away as she headed towards the nearby sink. The corner of his eye just catching sight of the intricately designed tattoo that sat just above her left hip. It was partially hidden as it dipped below the waist of the pants she wore.

Frowning he remembered that it wasn't the only tattoo she had, he'd noticed another though much smaller at the join of her collarbones. Both had the same design and they reminded him of something just out of his mental reach.

"Here"

She said handing him the filled glass of water, while she took a deep drink of her own. She'd splashed water on her face and it had clung gently to the black eyelashes surrounding her dark eyes.

"We should probably head towards the cantina. See who we need to speak to about getting us down into the lowercity. I sure as hell don't want to carry these uniforms around much longer."

"Me either, we'll head over in a minute. I'm pretty sure we'll end up having to speak with the Hidden Beks though, judging by our reception here they'll probably be our only option."

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Just over an hour later Raven found herself being physically restrain by Carth. They'd come face to face with Gaddon Thek the leader of the Hidden Beks, but there conversation had taken a turn for the worse when Gaddon's twi'lek bodyguard had said something she shouldn't of.

"I'll show you Sith you Frackin' _bitrak_."

The words began tumbling out of her so fast she had trouble being certain what they meant. She did know that was spouting off in twi'leki and that none of it was remotely complementary.

A sudden wrench and a deft twist from Carth had her thrown against the nearest wall. His bodyweight preventing her from moving, although she could easily of shoved him aside she recognised the command in his voice as he ordered her to stand down.

Her eyes duelled with his for a full minute before she allowed herself to breath in and break eye contact.

"Yes sir."

He released her and turned to face Gaddon.

"I didn't know a human could curse that creatively in twi'leki. You should probably apologize Zaedra – I think that you offended the nice Republic officers with your insinuations."

"Just because they show such objection doesn't make it any less true."

"Zaedra!"

"Yes sir, I…apologise for my accusations."

"Thanks"

The words where drawn from Carth with wry amusement, Raven on the other hand was still having difficulty controlling her need to plant her fist in the smug twi'leks face.

"Look we didn't come here looking for trouble – we wanted to ask or your help."

"What can the Hidden Beks do for you?"

Gaddon asked.

"Well sir, we're trying to find a way down into the undercity. We're looking for a … friend that may be down there."

"Ah you are Republic then? You'll be wanting to check out those escape pods that crashed down there hmmm? I might be able to help you if I knew what it was that you where looking for."

"Our … friend Bastila – she's an officer in the Republic fleet, she had vital information that is crucial to the war effort."

"I'm sorry son, but if you're looking for that particular officer then I have some bad news, she was taken captive by the Black Vulkars – our main rivals down here. Vicious bunch they are. I'm afraid that she's been taken as a slave."

"Bastila's a slave? We have to help her. Is there anything you can do?"

Carth pleaded, Raven was running things over in her head attempting to come up with some sort of plan.

"We have to rescue her."

The words where torn from her lips, loath as she was to admit to wanting to help a Jedi.

"I agree lieutenant. Is there anything you can do Gaddon? Anything at all?"

"Well from what I've been able to hear this – Bastila – of yours is currently the first prize in the annual swoop-bike race for the lowercity. She's been posted as a sort of – entry fee – by Brejek the leader of the Vulkars."

"So what, we'd need to break into the Vulkars base? We got a look at the entrance on our way through here. There isn't a chance we could get past that kind of security on our own."

"There wouldn't be much point anyway, from what our spy's have been able to find out it seems Brejek – the paranoid bastard – has got her locked up somewhere else. None of my people have been able to find out where, the only way you'll manage to get her is to win the swoop race."

"We don't even have a swoop, let alone a gang backing us. From what I remember from the holo-net you can't enter the race unless you're part of the gangs down here. The race is supposed to determine who controls what. A way to lessen the bloodshed."

"You've done your homework kid, only registered members of an established gang can take part in this race."

Carth was watching he with wry amusement, he'd noticed the moment I'd dropped all hostilities and focused on the mission.

"But I might be able to help you. I could enter you as a racer for the Hidden Beks, I you can do me a favour. We've been working on a prototype for a swoop-bike accelerator -"

"What! Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea just how precise the calculations have to be, to even attempt to alter a swoop-bike's parameters? We're talking less then .00052 variation -"

"Smart as well as beautiful huh? Yes I know the calculation need to be more then precise – they need to be perfect. I've been working on this for the past five years; it's been a hobby of mine. Anyway we'd finally managed to get it working when the damn Vulkars attacked our base. We managed to hold them off but the accelerator was stolen in the process. If you can manage to get it back, I have no problems entering you in the race. All I'm interested in is helping to stabilise the lowercity. I don't believe in slavery."

I watched Carth as he stood there for a moment obviously going over the logistics of such an operation.

"Your still asking us to break into a heavily guarded base filled with thug's who I'm guessing wont take kindly to strangers. It's a huge risk for just the two of us."

"Not if you can find the back way in."

That caught my attention.

"Who would be stupid enough to have such an obvious vulnerability in a base like that?"

"I never said that Brejek was smart, but then again I don't think they believe that it is vulnerable. You'd have to head down into the undercity to even have a chance at finding it – and you'll need the help of a friend of mine. You might have met her short – blue – bad mouth."

"Ah you mean Mission?"

"What! Gaddon no, you can't ask Mission to do this. She's just a kid!"

"She's explored every back alley and sewer of the lower and undercity Zaedra. If there is another way into that base then she'll know it."

He turned back to us and continued.

"So you've met Mission Vao? Did you meet her – ah – friend as well?"

"Yeah she helped us out, told us we should come and ask you about getting some information. Cost us a fortune buying food for her giant fuzz ball too."

I mumbled, not that I had anything against the Wookie but we were still pretty short on credits and could use them all.

"They're probably down in the undercity even now – they usually are. If you can find them she'll be able to help you, just tell her that I sent you – she'll add it to my tab."

He smiled indulgently at the thought.

"You'll need to get down into the undercity though. I'm assuming you managed to – acquire –some Sith uniforms to get down here. It'll take more then that to get past the guard on this level, I've got some authorisation papers for a Sith patrol that went – missing – the other day. They wont have changed the codes as of yet. I'll trade you the armour for the codes, you never know when a little camouflage will come in handy."

I looked at Carth questioningly, waiting for him to nod his agreement, before I pulled the backpack with the armour in, off and placed it on the table. I rummaged around inside before extracting the compressed body shell that contained the rest of the uniform, and place it on the desk as Carth did the same with his."

"Here – take care of these, I might ask for them back."

Gaddon handed the papers to Carth who quickly placed them in his jacket pocket.

"We should head down now and scout around, see what we can find. We can head out into the undercity proper tomorrow after we've gotten some rest."

Carth spoke to me before turning back to Gaddon.

"I'm not going to promise anything, but we'll see what we can do."

"That's all I ask, good look son – and you kid. You're going to need it."

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The door to the Hidden Beks base slipped shut behind then as they made their way out into the main passageway that circled through the lowercity. Carth gave a nod to the guard on duty ay the door before continuing his way down the passage.

Raven followed behind taking his silence as the warning he intended. He waited until they where out of earshot of the guard before turning to face her.

"Just what the frack was that about in there lieutenant? Not only did you place us unnecessary danger, you could have seriously hindered this entire mission."

"What are you talking about?"

"That –back there, with Gaddon and Zaedra. If I hadn't been there to stop you, you could have started a damn brawl with the twi'lek."

"Oh."

"Don't 'oh' me lieutenant, I'm waiting for an explanation."

"She called us Sith."

"And that give you a reason t fly off the handle?"

"She had no right to accuse us of being Sith, no matter what the provocation."

"This is a Sith occupied world – these people have every right to be wary…"

"What you mean like you?"

He stopped and really looked at her for a moment. That golden gleam had entered the black depths of her eyes again, her face was lit by the overhead panel casting her features into shadow.

"And just what is that supposed to imply lieutenant?"

"I wasn't implying anything Captain, I was stating fact. You've been treating me like the enemy since we landed on this rock, suspicious, accusatory and down right rude. I'm not a Sith – I will NEVER be a Sith. I wont have anyone saying otherwise."

He watched he absolute passion and conviction that her face and body projected and felt a pang of guilt and sadness that he had had a part to play in causing her hurt.

"Lieutenant – Raven we where dressed in Sith uniforms to get down here, we walked through the uppercity dressed as Sith."

"It was a disguise, one we need in order to help our mission. That doesn't make us Sith."

"These people are scared – and yes wary of strangers. I'm certain that Zaedra was only trying to protect Gaddon by bringing up a possibility. You can't let what others think effect you like that – can't let it cloud your objectivity."

"It still matters what people think – it matter what you think."

The harshness of her tone had evaporated, leaving behind the hint of vulnerability that he'd noticed before. She turned her body away; gazing down the passageway leaving him stood looking at her.

"Raven – look at me – please."

When she didn't immediately turn he risked placing his hand on her shoulder, gently turning her until she faced him again. He watched as her eyes dropped down to his arm before they moved upwards to look at his face.

"I know you're not Sith ok. I didn't mean to question you loyalty, but I just find it difficult to trust – anyone. That doesn't mean that I think you Sith."

"How am I supposed to know what you think Carth? You never let anyone in – never share anything of yourself."

"I have my reasons."

"But how am I meant to know that – I'm not a frackin' force user."

"Thank the force for that."

"What I mean is I can't read your mind Sir, I don't know what our thinking or feeling. How am I meant to prove myself to you if I don't know what it is I need to prove?"

"You don't need to prove anything to me Raven. I realise that now and I'm sorry that my suspicions caused you pain, but I don't know hoe to be – open or trusting – but I'm willing to try."

"Thank you Sir, I'll try not to push to hard."

"You do that lieutenant, and I'll try to be a little more open."

She smiled at him then flashing him those straight white teeth before laughing out loud. She clapped him on the shoulder still laughing while he tried really hard to keep a straight face.

"Don't worry Sir – Carth I think I've had enough openness as I can handle for now."

"Good we should head on down to the undercity and get this scouting over with."

"Yes, Sir!"

She saluted him with all seriousness, before she started laughing again, this time Carth didn't even try to stop himself from joining in. their laughter echoed down the hall following them as the continued on their way.


	7. Chapter 7

_AN:Just wanted to clear a few things up for those who are having a little troubel. the character in this story is Raven Dark-wing she is not, and nevrt has been Reven. i got a little tired of always having the same basic approach. so although i do follow the game my character is totally original. this means that she can be however i want her to be! just kidding, she will follow the a similar path, but all characteristic displayed will be explained as the story progresses, so don't jump down my neck over something you don't understand ask a question and i'll try and fix what you think could be worked on, thats the whole point of leaving reviews, it helps the writer to make the story better. if you spot anthing that you just don't get or feel totally doesn't fit in my story let me know. i'd be happy to here from you. :)_

"You don't honestly think that you going to be able to find theses journals do you?"

Carth asked as they left the weathered tent of Rukil. The small village that sat in the shelter of the giant tower leading down into the undercity looked drab and worn, the smell of rot and mold hanging heavily in the air causing you to breath deeply through the mouth.

"I don't know Carth, I didn't promise him anything but I do intend to keep a look out for them. It can't cause any harm."

"That was kind of strange though, wasn't it? It was like he already knew you."

Carth mused, they where making their way around the village – scoping out the environment. They where nearing the gate that protected the villagers from the rest of the hazardous undercity.

"I don't see how, I know I've never set foot on Taris before we got here. I can count the number of planets I've been to on one hand."

"That's odd – don't you get posted?"

"Sure but I'm a combat pilot, most of my active duty has been in deep space. The last two planets I got stuck on where Coruscant at the academy and after that I was posted to Fondor for advanced pilot training."

"Nice, you must have graduated pretty high in you class to get posted there."

"Second actually – would have been first if I could have passed more then just basic blaster training."

"You failed advanced blasters?"

"Hey! I would have been fine if it was anything else, give me a starfighter, or put me in melee combat and I could have passes anything. For some reason blasters are just beyond me, I'd never even held a blaster before I came to the academy. I was top in everything else though."

He just looked at me with mischief twinkling in his eyes.

"So, you failed huh?"

"NO! - I opted to - recognise my limitations."

He laughed out loud as we rounded the final corner to the gate. A shrill panic filled voice cut through the merriment bringing us back into the present with an unexpected thud.

"Hurry Hendar, run! Open the gates please! He's nearly here. If you don't they'll kill him!"

"I'm sorry Hestor I just can't risk the village for one man, they're too close."

"NO! Hendar!"

I didn't even stop to look at Carth I felt him move step by step besides me as we approached. Beyond the gate about 30 feet away a young villager ran with all his might in an attempt to out pace the hideous creatures less then 10 feet behind him. I looked at Carth for a moment, neither he nor I spoke, but a silent communication passed between us.

"Open the gates"

The words seemed spoken from someone else. I was already reaching for my blade and Carth had his blasters in a firm light grip. The man at the gates just looked at us.

"I said open the gates, we'll deal with the Rakghouls."

"Your mad! There's at least ten of them out there!"

"Just do what the lady asked."

Carth spoke now – his authorative tone breaking through the terror filled atmosphere.

"Ok – but your still mad."

The gate slid down and we stepped over quickly, before we'd gone even a foot we heard the distinctive sound of the gate as it slammed tightly into place once more. The young villager – Hendar – was 15 feet away, the Rakghouls 20.

"I'll stay ranged – keep them off your back. Don't get bitten beautiful."

"You think this is the time for flirting?"

Carth choked on a laugh but stopped as he settled into a firm stance. Carefully I gripped the dual blade in my hands and gave the handle a deft twist. The blades separated into two weapons. I spun them effortlessly, adjusting to the altered balance.

"Be careful flyboy."

I muttered eyeing the approaching hoard before taking a deep breath and diving straight in.

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Carth watched in utter amazed panic as Raven threw herself into the oncoming swarm of Rakghouls. She was literally everywhere. Her separated blades slicing and hacking with precision movement – take one down move on.

He could see the fierce determination on her face as she spun and twirled to an inner music that he was privileged enough to overhear. All the while she kept going he was picking off targets with an uncanny speed and accuracy, one after another.

It was amazing to watch let alone participate in. she was a living force, seemingly bring the very elements around her to life. He barely noticed the young man from the village as he too turned to slash at those on the peripheral of the swarming mass that held Raven at the centre.

It played out as an orchestrated battle with himself only reacting to the action-taking place. He was so caught up that her didn't notice the villager who had decided to help, fall awkwardly at the feet of an attacking Rakghoul, until it was too late.

He watched in sick horror as the giant beast dove towards the prone figure, its jaws open wide to take that lethal bite. A blur of motion caught his attention as Raven moved into view.

She dove the short distance between herself and the beast intercepting it with a right fist as she slammed the hilt of her blade into its jaw knocking it away and giving her a chance to recover.

He dispatched it quickly with a sniper shot to the back of its bulbous head before moving to pull the injured villager away from the battle. After that it took very little time to finish off the remaining beasts.

When the last of the Rakghouls lay writhing in its final death throws Carth stopped and took in the carnage around them. The mutilated corpse's lay motionless contrasting sharply with the previous battle.

In the centre of the dead and dying beasts stood Raven. Her breathing hard and yet still controlled, she stood with both blades resting, still gripped firmly in her hands pointing towards the blood soaked ground.

Her eyes shut in an effort to regain control, while her chin length black hair clung in places to her face. Her armour sported gash marks and blood – none of which appeared to be hers.

From a distance he heard the distinctive sound of the gate being lowered followed by the joyous sobs of the young women as she was reunited with her husband, then the gatekeeper seemed to snap back into focus.

"That was amazing! I though for sure that you would all be killed, but you won – I've never seen anything like it!"

Carth still hadn't taken his eyes off Raven who stood not 3 feet away. He watched as she turned and her eyes opened, her gaze meeting his across the short distance that separated them.

She reattached the two bladed and smiled at him, her relief and joy evident in the light of her eyes, which surprisingly, for the undercity was dim and poorly lit, shone with a golden glow – like sunrise.

He watched as she began to move towards them, his own face responding in kind as she approached.

"Thank you – both of you – so much for saving him. I…I can never thank you enough!"

"Please we're just glad we where able to help."

Raven replied her voice soft and it touched him again how deeply she seemed to care for all the people she seemed to meet that needed help.

They watched together as the reunited couple made their way across the village to the more populated areas.

"You amaze me."

The word slipped out before he had a chance to censor them. She stood only a few feet away now, in easy reaching distance, but the full force if her smile and eyes at this range almost floored him as she turned to face him fully.

"Really? Thanks Carth you did pretty awesome too. I don't think even my instructor at the academy could have done better."

"Now I know your flirting – didn't anyone teach you not to pander to your elders?"

"Get real flyboy – you know full well that – that – whatever it was, when we where fighting was something special. I could almost feel you in my head letting me know where I needed to be, or not be most of the time. I've never been able to fight quite like that before. I'm not being modest, I'm good but I didn't think that I was 'that' good."

"Well maybe you talent is expanding? We are in a pretty stressful situation, stranded on an enemy occupied world – cut off from command. These are the moments you find out what your really capable of."

"Maybe, I'd be more then willing if I was able to fight like that more often. We should probably get cleaned up a bit and get some rest."

"I see what you mean, if we're going to face more of these things."

And he kicked the nearest corpse with his boot

"We could use all the help we can get."

They turned to begin the walk back through the open gate when a flash of blue caught their attention. Reacting instinctively Carth grabbed for his blasters as Raven raised her blade.

"Hey – you…you gotta help me! No one else will help me – not even the Beks will help me!"

A trembling sigh of relief escaped them as the caught full sight of the young twi'lek. She looked shaken and slightly injured – her wide eyes terror filled.

"It's Mission right?"

Carth asked she nodded taking a deep breath.

"Please – they got Zalbaar – there gonna hurt him or worse sell him to slavers!"

"Ok Mission…calm down…take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

Raven spoke as she slid her blade back into its harness.

"We…we where explorin' down in the sewers, looking for stuff to salvage, when a group of Gamorrean's attacked us. Zalbaar pushed me out of the way and told me to run. So I did…I ran as fast and as far as I could. I thought he was right behind me only when I made it out of the sewers and turn to see if he's alright…well you know, he was gone."

He face showed her grief and tear pooled in her eyes. I looked at Raven our eyes meeting over the young girls head.

"Ok Mission – we'll help you find him. We where headed back up to our apartment to get some rest, you can come and stay with us if you like."

"What! You gotta find him now."

"I know your upset Mission, but we can't do anything for him right now. We've been on the go for hours – we're exhausted. We can't go off into the undercity unprepared, we'd be slaughtered. I know you want to find your friend, but we need supplies and ammunition, without those we'd never even make it to the sewers let alone back out again – do you understand? We're not going to leave him, but we need rest – all of us."

Raven had kept her voice steady and calming, he watched fascinated as her measured words sank into the distressed teen's mind and stuck.

"Ok… I – I guess your right. They can't move him anywhere overnight so he should be safe till morning. I – thanks for agreeing to help me."

"Don't mention it."

Carth added with a tense smile.

"We where looking for you both anyway – we where going to ask for help – but that can wait till we find your friend."

"Thanks. Did you mean it about headin' back to you place? I've never been in an uppercity apartment before."

"Sure kid, you can stay as long as you want."

"Hey! I ain't no kid!"

Raven chuckled at them both before turning towards that tower lift and hopefully some rest.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_Thanks so much for being patient with me, while i worked out a few kinks for this chapter. i apologize that it seems that very little actually goes on in this chapter but i decided that i needed to add some back groud for my OC character. i really appriecate everyone that has reviewed this and to those of that haven't...Shame on you!!! JUst kidding. thanks again and i hope you enjoy!!_

Raven stood under the shower head, letting the hot water wash away the dirt and grime not to mention tension that lingered from the strenuous effort of their battle in the Undercity. Carth had offered to go and pick up some food from the local shops. Mission still sat slumped on the tatty sofa in the apartment, with the holo-net controller firmly in her grasp. She put the troubled teen problem from her mind as she grabbed the shampoo and began to scrub her head. There was matted blood in the strands, the last remnants of the Rakghoul's that they had faced. The water was tinted pink from not only the creature's blood, but her own she'd been determined to not let Carth notice she had had taken a few nasty slashes from the beast's claws.

When she was finally clean she slipped from the shower, she dressed quickly in the slim fitting sleep pants she'd picked up at the local merchants and a pale yellow cami. The armour that she had worn needed some definite work, so she dumped it in the shower to wash the remaining blood and guts off the surface. As soon as she had enough credits she'd have to buy a new set, but for now she'd just have to work with what she had. When she'd finished she grabbed the rest of her gear and headed back into the main apartment. She noticed that Mission hadn't moved a muscle since she'd left the room, as she made her way to the workbench, set off to one side. The armour fell to the bench with a thud, rousing Mission from her channel surfing. The teen looked up as raven turned t o walk across the room for her backpack.

"Wow… are those real?"

The young girl's voce was awe filled and uncertain, yet it stopped Raven in her tracks.

"Are what real?"

She knew the answer before she even spoke, but wanted to test how far Mission would be willing to go with this. The girl approached, her hand stretched out to finger the odd metallic graph's that lay on her skin.

"Frack, they are real – where… where did you get them?"

"I take it you mean the graph's?"

"Yeah… I've heard of these. I thought it was a myth."

The girl hadn't noticed how uncomfortable her line of questioning had made Raven feel, but she tamped down her irritation. It was a perfectly valid question.

"I wish they were."

"What? These are great! They increase strength, help endurance. There lighter then bone and ten times stronger. Why wouldn't you want them?" The girl was genuinely confused.

"Because unlike what your imagining the reality of having graph's fitted is utter burning agony… especially the way I received mine."

"Why I thought that you'd volunteered or something."

"Frack no! I was in a… accident when I was eleven. A wall fell on me, crushed my entire right side which is why I have this."

She raised her metallic hand to show the girl.

"The graph's well they aren't just on the surface Mission. Every bone in my entire body was replaced. Where the graphs sit o the surface is where the nerve damage was too severe to ever be repaired."

"Sith spit! How did you manage to survive something like that?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

The reply was short but the edge had left Raven's voice. The girl was simply curious; there was no repulsion or horror at the metallic implants.

"Here check out my spine."

Raven turned and lifted the bottom of the cami for Mission to see the exposed metal where each spinal section had once been.

"Wow! How sis they do that?"

"Most of my bones were damaged in the … accident so it was decided that it would benefit me more to just replace them. But you can't just take bones away, so they used this technique called metallurgy where a compound was pumped through my body and as it was absorbed it bound itself to the calcium of my bones… eventually it replaced then altogether."

"Didn't that take forever?"

"A year… I couldn't move, couldn't feel. I was in a bacta tank for most of it but still – it hurt – a lot."

"So your bones are made out of this… metal stuff now?"

"Cortosis… it's pretty rare but one of the few metals that can be used."

"So the graphs, do they sit on your skin? Or are they connected to the bone-metal-whatever?"

"The nerve damage from the accident was worse on my right side. Some of my bones where completely crushed. So the graphs sit on the skin but are connected to the 'bone-metal-whatever' they carry the impulses from my brain and move the muscles needed."

"Didn't you say you where a pilot? Do they let you fly like that?"

"I'm not broken Mission… I'm healthier than most humans… most sentient's out there; like you said thought it does make me stronger and give me a higher endurance. I'm also left handed so the finer movements aren't affected."

"I didn't mean to say you where broken… I just think it's amazing you still do what you do."

"So do I."

Carth's voice echoed from the doorway, he'd obviously arrived sometime ago as the door had closed on its own, but neither Raven nor Mission had noticed his arrival.

"How… how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough. If what I heard was true then I'm assuming you got your Cortosis from the Mandalorian's. They're the only ones who still use that form of reconstruction."

"How do you know that?"

"I fought in the Mandalorian's wars remember? I got the food we should eat before it gets cold."

"Thanks."

She watched as he unpacked various cartons on the unit in the tiny kitchenette. Mission grabbed two, handing one to Raven as she passed before retaking her seat of the overstuffed sofa. Carth pulled a stool from the tiny breakfast bar out for her, then one for himself.

"So you where in the Mandalorian wars, funny your service record never mentioned it."

"It wouldn't I was hardly old enough to be in academy prep let alone the military."

"But you did fight… didn't you?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"I'm asking you to tell me."

"Is this your attempt at being open?"

"I … yes I guess it is."

"Ok, I'll tell you – if you tell me why you're so distrustful of everyone – deal?"

"I guess so … yeah it's a deal."

"Ok … Officially I never fought in the Mandalorian wars."

"Unofficial then?"

"My home world was Derelia… I don't suppose you've ever heard of it?"

"No."

"It was a tiny world… well moon really… a research and development compound the only base, the rest of the planet was farmland. My father was a geneticist at the base a highly compassionate man he dedicated his life to helping people. My mother was … well a warrior, her combat skill where unmatched. Her ship crashed on the planet's surface and she was seriously injured… my father nursed her back to health… they fell in love - got married - had my sister and me."

Raven took a bite of her food quickly not letting herself linger too much over the past.

"When I was eleven… the Mandalorian's came. We had no weapons… no defences… we where peaceful. It didn't matter; they bombed the R & D base. My father died instantly, my mother and I were at home when the troops started pouring through our village. She made me stay inside then grabbed her weapons and rushed out to meet them. Have you ever seen a true warrior in battle?"

"I saw many of the Jedi battling the Mandalorian's, they fought like demons."

"Yes … that was my mother, a hurricane of fury and determination. I can't remember how many she killed but the bodies lay waist high. A Mandalorian stabbed her in the back while she fought, I watched as she fell. The world seemed to stop… that's all I remember. The next thing I know I have my mother's vibrosword in my hands and its shoved straight through the coward who attacked her. Time passed I guess as I kept fighting I could tell they were wary. I was a child yet I fought like a demon, finally I was backed against a wall a group of then having blocked me in, when an air strike hit not 100 meters away. The wall at my back … collapsed, trapping me and the group of Mandalorian's beneath it."

"By the force Raven, that's almost unbelievable."

"I know… I wish it was. The Mandalorian's have this thing… if a warrior dies in battle then he is given a warriors funeral. They don't leave their dead behind… or at least they try not to. Anyway they were digging through the rubble for the dead when they came across me. I was alive… somehow. I don't remember what happened but evidently the commander of the Mandalorian ground troops was impressed. A mere child killing their trained warriors surviving what those some warriors hadn't. They decided I had the spirit of a true Mandalorian and deserved to die in glorious battle… not at the bottom of a pile of rock. The idiot's… if they'd only known."

"Known what?"

"I already was Mandalorian… half anyway. My mother had crashed her basilisk war-droid after taking heavy damage in battle. I'd been raised as Mandalorian… trained as a Mandalorian, and still they slaughtered us as if we where cattle."

"You're… you're Mandalorian?"

Raven watched a tenseness settle over Carth's shoulders and gave an inwards sigh.

"I haven't changed Carth, I can't change the circumstances of my birth and I wouldn't want to. My parents where good proud people, my father was half Echani. Being a warrior is in my blood but I believe in the Republic have fought for that Republic since I was 15."

"I'm sorry… I just … I guess I still have some issues to deal with regarding Mandalorian's. I know you're different, I trust you."

"Thank you that means a lot."

"I'm assuming the Mandalorian's took you with them when they left?"

"Yes… to Duxn… like I said I spent a year in a bacta tank."

"That was you?"

His eyes snapped wide as if a piece of a larger puzzle had suddenly fallen into place.

"You where the civilian on Duxn… the one who directed the Republic's fleet where they needed to strike and how … when… everything – it was you!"

"I worked with Commander Dodanna or at least she was at the time… yes."

"You went into battle with the ground troops, even though you had been ordered to remain behind."

"I knew they'd never make it where they needed to go without my help."

"You could have been killed!"

"Possibly… but I had vengeance very firmly on my mind. Do you know why you've never heard of Derelia?"

"No I thought I would have it being a scientific community like you described."

"You've never heard of it because it doesn't exist anymore. The Mandalorian's bombed an active volcanic chain… causing a cataclysmic eruption that blasted the planet into pieces. There isn't even enough to form an asteroid field, just a sorry little dust cloud circling the gas giant that the moon orbited."

"Oh force Raven… I – I'm so sorry. I know this is going to sound trite but I know how you feel… somewhat anyway."

"How the hell can you possibly know that?"

Raven snapped, grief clouding her words.

"I … I was born on Telos. I lost everything when the Sith attacked my world."

"Oh … is that why you don't trust?"

"Yeah, my friend… or at least I thought he was my friend… and commanding officer was Saul Karath."

"Oh Carth… I'm … I don't know what to say."

"I guess we've got a lot more in common then we'd wish for. Thank you… for trusting me with this."

"You're my friend, and a fine soldier. I'm honoured to have had this time to work besides you."

Raven smiled and went back to work consuming her cold meal.

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End file.
